Ever thought about researching your family tree or the area where you live but don’t know where to start? Welsh Libraries Champion Ruth Jones and celebrity genealogist Cat Whiteaway urge you to make the library your first port of call.
Cat Whiteaway studies the history of families and the line of descent from their ancestors, she says: “I wouldn’t be able to produce my radio and television programmes without the help of libraries. The local knowledge of staff is key and we very often find volunteers with expertise and enthusiasm in a particular subject area in the library. One of the highlights of my job is talking to people and piecing together a jigsaw – my job would be incredibly boring if I found the answers all in one place. I love to bring a family tree to life by delving a bit further – how they lived, what were the work and living conditions like, local and social history – I certainly couldn’t do it alone and libraries are one of the best places to begin my research.”
One particular story sticks in Cat’s mind, “A lovely gentleman in his sixties had never seen a photo of his father because he had died when the man was only two years old. He had always wondered what his father looked like, so I went along to his local library and staff were able to tell me which newspapers to look at from around the time of his death. We found him listed as ‘missing in action’ and this was the first time the gentleman had seen a picture of his father via a 1942 newspaper which we printed off a microfiche reader in the library. I’m so lucky to be doing this job as it brings an enormous amount of satisfaction to know that you can make a difference to other people’s lives like this.”
Welsh Libraries Champion Ruth Jones recently met up with Cat at the library: “I found it really interesting to meet Cat and learn more about the services available in the library. The staff really do play such an important role – helping to answer questions or locate information and also being there to have a friendly chat. Many libraries also have weekly taster sessions to help people get started with researching their family tree – I may get signed up as soon as I have some free time!”
Caerphilly libraries offer a variety of resources to assist users in their local and family history research – books, newspapers and periodicals, photographs, maps and plans, illustrations, directories, electoral registers, records and census returns. Not to mention free internet access to scan the whole host of websites aimed at helping us discover our roots including ancestry.com which is available in libraries at no charge (normal subscription rates are over £60 per year) and the latest addition to this database includes a searchable list of all British Prisoners of War captured in Europe during World War II.
For more information email Karen John, Community Development Manager for Caerphilly Library Service at [email protected] or call her on 01443 864065.
